1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for sharpening knife blades.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been possible to sharpen knives employed in a workshop in an automated fashion only with the aid of an expensive, special purpose knife sharpening machines. While knives that are employed in workshops may be sharpened manually on a whetstone or on a rotary grinding wheel, such a manual process is extremely laborious and very inexact. Considerable time is required to sharpen the blades of workshop knives manually using a carborundum whetstone, or by manually positioning the knife relative to a rotating grinding wheel. Moreover, in both of these manual knife sharpening techniques the blade edge achieved is highly irregular, due to recurring shifts in the angle and extent of grinding interference at which knife blade is held relative to either the grinding wheel or the whetstone. Thus, knives which are sharpened manually have significant irregularities in their edges. This detracts considerably from the quality of cuts which are achieved utilizing knives sharpened in this fashion.
In woodworking and cabinet making shops high quality knifes are used extensively to carve and shape furniture and cabinetry. However, to date, the only devices which have been satisfactorily employed for the purpose of achieving a fine, uniform cutting edge on such workshop knives are expensive, special purpose knife sharpening machines. Such knife sharpening machines do properly hold the edges of knife blades at appropriate angles and with appropriate grinding interfaces in order to sharpen knives with a uniform, accurate blade edge. However, knife sharpening machines of this type are special purpose devices and are too expensive and space consuming to be utilized in small woodworking and cabinet making shops and in conventional home workshops.
In order to properly sharpen workshop knives, an individual is forced to take the knives to a professional knife sharpening establishment for sharpening on a special purpose knife sharpening machine of the type described. This process results in a considerable delay in workshop projects, since a special trip must be made to a knife sharpening establishment during the hours that such an establishment is open. Moreover, there is a considerable expense involved, since the cost of these special purpose machines employed by knife sharpening establishments must be amortized and recovered in the cost of sharpening knife blades.